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SIOUX CITY - Whether shopping for clothes or gifts, grabbing a bite to eat or learning new crafts, the venerable Marketplace Shopping Center offers a variety of services to Siouxlanders.
"The center is really dynamic and strong, as it's always been," Mary Ellen Hartman, the center's marketing director, said. "We have community-minded merchants."
The shopping center was built on the former Sun Valley Golf Course in 1960 and named the Sunset Plaza, at 2827 Hamilton Blvd.
Eventually, it became the Marketplace. In 2005, the Gleeson family of Klinger Properties, which owns the center, undertook a major remodeling to accommodate the new $13 million Hy-Vee grocery store on the southern end. The central part of the mall was rebuilt to have store-fronts for each business. Shopko anchors the shopping center at its northern end.
Customers can find a range of food to spice up their lives, from the Hy-Vee deli to Coney Island, the Pita Pitt, Caribou Coffee, One-Eyed Jacks, McDonald's and Minerva's.
The center features locally owned stores, such as LaVentura, Sadoff's Men's Clothing and Book People to chains including Evie's Hallmark Gold Crown store and Shopko.
Hartman said the stores have remained the same the last few y ears, except that the Rent-A-Center changed locations, opening up space for several other businesses to expand, including Heart & Hand Dry Goods Co. and St. Luke's Home Care.
Store owners said Marketplace is the only large shopping center on the city's north and west sides. Hamilton Boulevard provides easy access to others who live in other parts of Sioux City and out-of-town.
Several of the locally owned stores include:
Book People/Premier Travel & Cruise
Chris Camenzend, who owns Book People and Premier Travel & Cruise, said her businesses have a faithful following. She purchased the book store in 2003 from Vickie Hassenger. Four Sioux City women opened Book People in 1977 in the Indian Hills Shopping Center. In 1986, it relocated to Marketplace. Camenzend started the travel agency in 1986.
"We try to have a nice selection of books. We have a local authors' section," she noted and often holds book-signing events. "We try to maintain general titles, best sellers and carry a lot of paperbacks by various authors."
The staff will special order books twice a week.
"If you place your order on Monday, the book is here Wednesday. We never charge for shipping."
Almost half the store is devoted to children's books, stuffed animals and baby-related development toys, games and gifts. This summer, Camenzend said she would like to offer a story time hour for children.
"Our merchandise is changing all the time," she said, which includes seasonal gifts.
She offers totes and handbags, particularly in the Baggallini line, unique jewelry, fun note pads and pens, a wide range of greeting cards in lines not found elsewhere in Sioux CIty, lotions, photo frames and other gifts.
"We're a little eclectic in everything we offer," she said.
At the travel agency, located in the back of the store, Camenzend said she still has customers who want the extra help. She acknowledged that the industry has changed significantly in the past 25 years with the advent of online bookings.
"The perception is that it always less expensive when you book things online. That's not always the case," she emphasized. "People will tell us they get better prices from us than what they can find on the Internet. Sometimes, people feel more comfortable talking to a travel agent, particularly if they are going to spend a lot of money on a vacation."
LaVentura
Since she purchased the high-end women's clothing store three years ago, Sheri Lund said she has made the merchandise more affordably priced.
"We carry clothing for women who are in high school up to older women. We are known for our dresses, but I now carry a huge line of denim, too."
Lund said she still carries such contemporary lines as Hudson, Citizens, Sevens and Janes. She has brought in a number of new lines of clothing, including purses and unique jewelry.
"I have tried to provide things -- given the state of the economy -- that most women can afford and try to meet the needs of women today," she said. "There's a lot of color and casual-sharp type of clothing that really works from work into evening. It's very versatile, more light-hearted."
"We really get to know our customers well" and what they might like to wear.
Every day, she treats customers to specialty coffees and wine.
She remodeled the store to include more soft teal blues and brighter walls.
At least twice a year, she attends to markets to order the clothes. Most recently, she was in Las Vegas to order spring and summer clothing.
One of the things she is proud to sponsor is the "Fashion as Art" show at Minerva's, which is a benefit for the Sioux City Art Center. The money raised helps pay for children who cannot afford it to take art center classes and attend exhibits.
Lund noted she changed the spelling of the store slightly to LaVentura.
Sadoff's Men's Clothing
Sadoff's offers a line of clothing for men with the advertising jingle, "Big, tall, short and small - we fit them all."
Dress shirts, for example, range from 14 ½ to size 22, with some 24-inch neck sizes, owner Arlen De Zeeuw said.
The store carries regular and tall men's ties - something he said is difficult to find.
"We carry a lot of dress slacks, including in tall, and carry dress shoes up to size 15," he noted.
Shoe lines include Red Wing, Dockers, Florsheim and work shoes.
In addition to suits, sports coats and work cloths, Sadoff's carries sportswear, sweaters and casual tee shirts.
"We are big in providing formalwear for proms and weddings, too."
This spring, he said the store will sell more tapered dress shirts, which are back in style.
"We feel good that about 80 percent of our clothing is made in the USA," De Zeeuw noted. "We also have a tailor on staff, who does all or our tailoring in-house."
He said that personalized service sets Sadoff's apart from many retail stores.
Sadoff's is one of Sioux City's oldest, continuously operating men's clothing stores. Russian immigrant Nathan Sadoff opened the Up to Date Store in 1900 at the corner of Fourth and Court streets. Three generations of the family operated the business until Lester Sadoff's death in 2002, when the store was sold to De Zeeuw and others.
The Marketplace location helps draw customers to the locally owned stores, De Zeeuw stated, because they can do a range of shopping there. Plus, he said,the parking is free with most customers able to park in front of the stores.
Heart & Hand Dry Goods Company
Although the quilting shop held its grand opening on April's Food Day 16 years ago, it's no joke that the store has expanded to offer more than quilting supplies.
"We now carry a number of seasonal items, plus jewelry, Sock Monkey toys and dolls, handbags, lotions, soaps, candles, paper plates and napkins," owner Ann Brouillette said.
Currently, she has added Easter and spring decorative items. She hopes the gift items will generate more walk-in traffic.
A recent expansion into some space next door provided room for more merchandise and a classroom that can accommodate 16 people. Last November, she purchased a Statler Long-arm Quilting Machine, a computerized machine that can be programmed to stitch any pattern. The machine has been placed in the classroom.
Her store remains primarily a quilting shop, offering a number of classes and selling quilting supplies, books, patterns, a wide selection of fabrics, threads and notions.
"I've always sewn," Brouillette noted. "I had to wait until I was eight years old so I could sew on a machine. In college, I was a fiber arts major."
Quilting has been one of her favorite endeavors, so it seemed natural to open a quilting shop.
"I think quilting has become more popular through the years. It can be very relaxing."
Plans are being made to hold a 16th anniversary celebration sometime in April.
